When I am 79 years old, I want to be ashes on the field at Yankee Stadium or curled up in bed and falling to sleep unexpectedly in the middle of conversations like Grandpa Simpson. But that's me. The great English singer Petula Clark has other ideas. Straight in from recording a new album with Charles Aznavour and looking diminutive but regal in a long black dress, the years flew away from her as Petula kept a sold out Feinstein's. the first night of a two week stint, enthralled.
Opening with "I will Travel" and following it with a medley of "Who Am I/Color My world" she lead her rock band (though quite comfortable in other genre's bass, drums, piano, guitar quartet. Rightly so. Miss Clark has a long and lustrous career and while she dipped her toe into it, she leaned hard on the riding on the coattails of the British Invasion hit singles. Her fourth song, a rousing full throated "Don't Sleep In The Subway" brought the house down, Petula speeded up the tempo and stretched out the coda. She must have sung this a million times, but there was no rust on it. At the time of the songs released, it would play next to Motown and Phil Spector on the radio and listening to it today the arrangement is superb: it is worthy of Burt Bacharah.
But there were missteps. Perhaps Petula misjudged us, or perhaps, as she mentioned, she was sick of singing in French. Either way, her only excursion to her adopted land was Edith Piaf's "La Vie en Rose", which she performed on piano. It was as delicate and beautiful a take on the song as you can imagine. But I can name a number of Serge Gainsbourg songs I'd have preferred to hear. An equal mistake, and again, I am not discussing her singing at all, rather the time dictates of a 50 minute set when you have a career spanning decade after decade. But "Miss Otis Regrets" as Clark imagines Peggy Lee would have done it.
Two more complaints, a parody of "Downtown" as "Duane Reade" wasn't funny and a poem read aloud was lousy. For this I didn't get "Call Me"?
The rest of the show was just about perfection. Highlights included "My Love" done as a Nashville hootenanny -Petula stomps through it with so much energy it is really astounding. She looked absolutely beautify and was friendly and funny and sincere. Much better, perhaps the highlight of the night, was an astoundingly moving version of Charlie Chaplin's "This Is My Song" -one of three ) where the audience and cheered.
Another trip to the piano and another selection that had me scratching my head, "Someone To Watch Over Me" which merged with "Rhapsody In Blue" (perhaps a nod to where she was) at the end. If Petula's point was that she can sing Gershwin, consider the point made and then some. Really, it is hard to complaint about such wonderful music.
Harking back to her career in movies, she starred in "Finian's Rainbow" with Fred Astaire and sang "How Are Things In Gloccza Morra" and then followed that with a song off Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Sunset Boulevard", she played Norma Desmond in the US traveling company, "With One Look". Personally, I'd have preferred "As If We'd Never Said Goodbye" but I'll take it!
The last song before the encore was a magnificent "Downtown". Again, I can hear the 60s, I can hear the band not just as a Cabaret band, but really a pop band you could imagine playing decades OK on, well, "Downtown".. And while, sure I missed the sax at the end, Petula really did manage to share it with us and keep it for herself. Her take on the bridge was just magnificent.
All caveats notwithstanding, it was a pleasure to be in the great woman's presence. She is at Feinstein's for the next two weeks Go and see her if you can.
Grade: A-
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